Auxiliary door for freight cars



w. G. POWELL AUXILIARY DOOR FOR FREIGHT CARS Filed August 29, 1924 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 May 25 1926.

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1,586,266 w. G. POWELL AUXILIARY DOOR FOR FREIGHT CARS Filed August 29, 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 gnventoz ZQMZZ May 25 1926.

W. G. POWELL AUXILIARY DOOR FOR FREIGHT CARS Filed August 29, 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 PATENT- OFFICE.

WILLIAI G. POWELL, OI ALTOONA, YENNSYLVANIA.

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a lication 11a August as, 1921 Serial m. 135,013.

This invention relates to doors and more particularly to auxiliary doors for use on freight cars, in order to provide an additional width of opening to facilitate the loading of large ob ects, such as automobiles,

into the cars.

It is an object of. this invention to provide a novel and improved type of auxiliary car door.

More particularly it is an object of this invention to provide a novel and improved auxiliary door which rolls in the same lane as the main door but in an opposite 'rection, the abutting edges of the two doors be-. ing weather-tight when closed and ofiering no obstructions to loading when open.

Another object of this invention consists in the provision of an auxiliary car door having means at both vertical edges thereof for tightly wedging it in a closed position and locking it in this position from the inside of the car.

Still another object of this invention consists in the provision of an auxilia door for freight cars, having means where y a temporary llining can be securedthereto when the aux liary door is not in use in order to adapt the car for the carrying of grain, etc.

A further object of this invention consists in the form of an auxiliary car door having certain novel and im roved features which will be more clearly escribed in the following specification and thereafter claimed.

For an understanding of this invention, reference should be had to the following specification taken in conjunction with; the

accompanyin drawings, wherein is dis closed one emhodiment of the invention, with the understanding that various modifications may be made therein without departing from the scope of the attached claims.

In said drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the door portion of a box car-showing on the right the usual sliding door and on the left the auxiliary door;

I Figure 2 is a vertical section on an enlarged scale taken on the line 22 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is a horizontal section on an enlarged scale taken on line 33 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is a partial vertical section on line 44 of Figure 1;

Figure 5"is a partial horizontal section on line 5.5 of Figure 1;

Figure 6 is a partial horizontal section on line 6-6 of Figure 1; I Figure 7 is a section on line 77 of Figure 3 looking in-the direction of the arrow, and

Figure 8 is an elevation of a detail of the to locking means for the auxiliary door.

When using box cars for the transportation of large objects of freight, such as antomobiles or other types of machinery, it is found diflieult to load them through the usual 05 door in the side of the car, and it has been proposed to provide an additional or auxiliary door which may be used at such times as necessary in order to provide an enlarged opening to facilitate the loading. Various W diiliculties have been met in the design of such a door, and the present invention contemplates :1 number of improvements, such as will be apparent upon reading the accompanying specification and which will be par- 7 ticularly pointed out in the claims.

Referring to Fi ure 1, it will be noted that on the right 0 the figure is illustrated an ordinary box car door 10 ada ted to slide .to theright to provide an opening through 89 which the car may be loaded. At 11 is shown an auxiliary door somewhat similarly constructed and adapted to slide to the left to enlarge the opening provided by the moving of the door 10. When it is not desired to use the auxiliary door, means is provided on the inside thereof, for rigidly securing it in position and wedging it against moving or rattling.

While any ordinary construction of door 96 may be used, it is preferred to use the particular construction illustrated and described in my co-pending a plication, Serial No. 725,653, side doors, fi ed July 12, 1924. In

this application, there is described a form of side door for cars formed of three sheet metal panels, such as 12, 13 and 14:, struck up at the meetin edges and there riveted together in a p ane parallel to the main part ofthe panel bit outwardly thereof to form 1% transverse reinforcing corrugations in the door as shown at 15 and 16. The rear edge of the door is composed of a vertical angle bar 17 riveted to the right angle flanged portion 18 of the panel plates at 19, and at 20 to the to s of the corrugations 15 and 16, The rear e ge of this ang e bar is distorted inwardly as shown at 21 in order to form a weather strip, cooperating with the distorted Z-bar 22 which forms a reinforcement,

1 bolted in two directions, to the door frame post 23. At 24 is shown the sheet-metal side of the car secured to the web of the 2- bar 22 by means of the bolts 25. Secured to the inner face of the door frame post 23 is the car lining 26, usually formed of wood, which adapts the car for use in the carrying of grain and similar articles.

Reference to Figure 3 shows that the rear or trailing edge of the auxiliary door 11 is constructed in exactly the same manner as the trailing edge just described for the main door 19, the reference characters in this instance being primed, it of course being understood that the panels 12, 13' and 14' of the auxiliary door are constructed in a similar manner to those of the main door.

In the drawings, the doors are illustrated as rolling upon a track at the bottom, but it is to be understood that this invention is equally applicable to top hung doors. The

bottom edge of the lower panel of each door is not flanged but is merely a straight continuation of the main portion of the panel and is reinforced by the Z-bar 27, having its upper flange 28 securely riveted to the inner face of the panel with the lower face of the web in line with the lower edge of the panel and extending inwardly therefrom so that the lower flange 29 of the Z-bar forms in effect an inwardly offset, guide flange preventing the door from moving outwardly by its cooperation with the inner face of the door track 30. This track may conveniently be a channel member arranged with the web uppermost and, supported from the longitudinal beams 31 beneath the car by means of the cast or pressed brackets 32. It is spaced a slight distance from these beams in order to provide clearance for the flange 29 of the lower stiifening members'of the doors.

As clearly shown in Figures 1 and 2, the doors are supported by the rollers 33, one at each of the lower corners thereof, which rollers are adapted to run upon the track 30, and are mounted for rotation in castings 34 vwhich are securely riveted to the lower corners of the panels, the upper flange 28 of the lower stilfener27, and the webs of the vertical edge stilfeners.

The upper edges of the panels 12 and 12 are reinforced by Z-bars such as 35, best shown in Figures 2 and 4, the upper flange 36 of which is securely riveted to the outer face of the flat portion of this panel. The upper edge of this panel together with its reinforcing Z-bar serves, as will later be de- 7 scribed, to retain the door against falling away from the car, and in order that the upper edge may be stiffened against bending about a horizontal axis, means are rovided for attaching the opposite flange 3 of the Z-bar to the panel. For this purpose, the

to form the short vertical corrugations 38, the summits of which are securely riveted to the flange 37, the material to form thesecorrugations being provided by allowing the upper edge of the panel to draw downwards to a position shown at 39 in Figure 4, which best illustrates this construction.

The upper edges of the doors are guided and prevented from lifting by means of the Z-bar 40, the upper flange 4101 which is securel riveted to the car roofing member 42, an the lower flange 42' of which overhangs the upper vertical flange 36 of the top stiffener of the door, thus serving to divert water to the outside of the door and to maintain the upper' edge of the door against falling away from the car. At the same time, the Z-bar prevents any lifting of the door which might disengage the depending flange 29 from the channel between the track 30 and the car beam 31, thereby insuring that the door always remains in the proper position.

Thus far, the construction of the two doors has been identical inevery way, except that the auxiliary door is narrower than the main door, but'the meeting stiles of the two doors are materially different. The reinforcing member forming the meeting stile of the main door is 'a Z-bar havmg its web 43 riveted to the outturned flanges 44 of the door panels in a. similar manner to that in which the angle 17 is fastened to the flanges 18. The flange 45 is riveted to the summits of the two transverse reinforcing corrugations at the meeting edges of the panels as shown at 46, and the remaining flange 47 of the Z-bar is curved as shown in Figure 3 so that it extends substantially at an angle of 45 to the web. By attaching the webs 17 and 43 in the manner described, it will be noted that they are each riveted to the door in two planes at right angles to each other, thus effectually preventing rotation of these stifl'eners about a vertical axis.

The meeting stile of the auxiliary door comprises the large shallow channel bar 48 having its back riveted to the outturned flanges 49 of the door anels so that the outer edge of the outer ange is flush with the face of the flange 45 of the vertical stiffener on the main door, the end 49 ofthis flange abutting against the face of the web 43 to form a weather-tight joint assisted by the curved flange 47 of the vertical stiffener on the main door. In order to prevent the channel bar 48 rotating about a vertical axis, due to the strains of closing and shifting freigh't within the car, it is securely riveted to the under side of the summits of the two transverse reinforcing corrugations by,

means of, the angle brackets 50 having the strengthening webs 51. Each of these brackets has at its inner end the flange 52,

material of the panel is pressed outwardly the inner face of which is in the same plane with the inner face of the flange 5,3 of the channel member 48. The surface thus formed by these two flanges is abutted by the wooden facing piece 54, which is securely fastened thereto by the bolts 55.

The meeting stile of the auxiliary door must be held in a rigid position when the door is closed in order to provide means for fastening the main door, and for this purso, there are provided wedging means at 0th the to and bottom of the meeting stile. The cliannel member 48 extends onl to the surface of the floor of the car wit suflicient clearance to allow for eas sliding,

whereas the track is a materia distance below the ed e of the surface of the floor, as

best shown in Figure 2. The casting 34 which houses the roller provides rigid means for connectingthis vertical stile .member and the lower horizontal edge stifi'ener. A portion of this casting is cut away as shown at 56 in Fig. 1 and is provided .at the rear thereof with the inclined surface 57, best shown in Figure 6, which is adapted to wedge behind the spud 58 fastened to the track 30 and having the corresponding inclined face 59, thereby serving not only to limit the movement of thedoor in its closing direction but also to securely press it inward against the edge 60 of the car floor reinforcing member to maintain the door bothweather-tight and against rattling. The flanges 45 and 47 of the vertical stiffener 43 of the main door are clipped at the bottom as shown in Figures 1 and 6 in orderto make room for the roller casting and to give clearance to the spudi58 and the inclined portion of the casting on the auxiliary'door.

In a similar manner, the upper edge of the door is adapted to cooperate -with' the double wedge member 61, as shown in Fig- "ure 5, which member is secured in the offset portion 62 of the Z-bar 40 which maintains the door in position on the car. It will be seen that theupper flange 36 of the Z-bar cludesa double wedge member 65 riveted near the rear edge of the door in the hollow formed on the inside between two of the panels of the door, as shown best in Figures 2 and 3, and a double cam member rotatable about a pivot secured upon a base 66 riveted to the flange end web 22 of the distorted Z-ba-r which reinforces the edge of the openin Figure 7 and somewhat above the hori-- At the-same time, the edge 74 of zontal. the cam member 68 increases in height from the end 75 to the end 76 and is adapted to cooperate with the inclined face 77' on the portion 65, in order to force thedoor toward its closing position at the same time that it draws it inward due to the rotation ofthe handle 71. The action of this double cam latch will be obvious from an inspection of Figures 3, 7 and 8, and it will be clear that when the door is in its locked position the handle 71 will be substantially vertically downward and out of the way.

To provide for the use of cars having this form of door for other purposes than the haulin of automobiles and such large pieces of mac inery, means is rovided for extending the normal wooden ining 26, 26' of the car over the inside of the auxiliary .door, thus allowing for the carrying of grain, etc. For this purpose, the temporary lining 78 is provided which may be fastened, by any suitable means, between the door post 23' and the facing piece 54 carriedby the channel bar 48 of the' auxiliary door. A strip 79 35 which formg theiopareinforein member is'prdfided at the edge of this temporary foi tlTdt ibr is extended so that it will ride up on the inclined surface 63 of this wedge member and perform the same function as the spud 58 in pressing the door inward against the guide stri 64.

In order to maintain the auxiliary door tightly closed and pressed against the wedges at its forward end andv also drawn tightly against the parts 60 and 64: at the rear edge, a latch is provided which has a wedging action in two directions, that is, toward the direction of closing the door and which also draws'the, door inward toward the body of the car. It is preferable to have this latch on the inside of the car so that when it is once locked there is only need of one lock and seal on the outside of the meeting edges of the two doors. This latch inlinmg 78 in order to bring it out into the same plane with the molding 80 which holds the lining 26 to the post 23 in order that standard grain doors 81 may be used the same as in ordinary box cars, thus in effect making a double purpose car.

Any suitable form of latch or-hasp mechanism such'as 82 may be used whereby the main door may be secured to the edge of the auxiliary door in the same manner. that I it would be secured normally to the siding 3f the car in the absence of the auxiliary oor.

From the above description, it will be evident that this invention provides a novel and improved door system for use on freight cars, adopting-them for use in the loa ng of large articles of freight, such as machinery and automobiles, and also allowing the use of the car .in the normal manner for the carrying of grain and other small articles, no obstructions being applied near the meeting edges of the two doors for the purpose of fastening either door in its closed position. The use of such obstructions is objectionable and they are usually short lived due to their being struck while loading the car. The auxiliary door in addition has the full height of the main door, and is in every respect the same and equally as strong. While but one embodiment of this invention has been disclosed in the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that various modifications and arrangements of parts maybe made without departing from the spirit of'the invention as expressed in the following claims.

Having thus described my invention what- I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. An auxiliary door for freight cars including in combination with a door frame, door panels adapted to overlaysaid frame when the door is closed, reinforcing means at the top and bottom thereof, rollers on which said door is adapted to slide, and cam means secured to the door frame acting in two directions to lock said door against rattling, said means engaging a part on said door remote from the edge thereof and outside of the plane of the panels thereof.

2. An auxiliary door for freight cars including in combination, door panels, reinforcing members at the top and bottom thereof, slideways toretain said door in position and wedging means cooperating with portions of said door to hold the forward edge of said door against rattling when closed, one of the said wedging means being below the level of the car. floor and secured to said slideway.

3.1%do'or systemfor freight cars including in combination, a door frame, a main sliding door, an auxiliary sliding door, said doors being in the same plane and abutting when closed to cover said frame, a weather-tight joint at said meeting edges and channel reinforcing means on said auxiliary door to form a frame member for said main door and means thereon for mounting a temporary lining when said auxiliary door is not in use.

4. A door system for freight cars including in combination, a door frame, a main sliding door, an auxiliary door sliding in the same plane as said main door, meeting stiles on said doors forming a weather-tight joint, the stile on said auxiliary door being a channel member having the plane of its web at right angles to the plane of the doors and means extending beyond the outer face of the door for preventing rotation of said channel about a vertical axis.

5. A door system for freight cars including in combination, a door frame, a main sliding door, an auxiliary door adapted to slide in the same plane as the main door and to abut the same, a channel member secured to the meeting edge of said auxiliary door with its channel facing the meeting edge of the main door, a reinforcing member including a weather strip secured to the meeting edge of said main door, the outer flange of said channel being adapted to overlap said weather strip.,

6. The combination with a car body having a floor and door opening, of a door comprising two complemental sections ar ranged to slide in the same plane but in opposite directions to open and close said door opening, a track below the level of the floor,

v means cooperating with one of said sections to individually wedge the vertical edges thereof against said car when said door is closed, and means on said track below said floor to wedge the bottom edge of one section against the edge of said floor.

7. The combination with a car body havin a door opening, of a framed door comprising two complemental sections arranged to slide in the same plane but in opposite directions to open and close said door opening, means cooperating with one of said sections to individually wedge the vertical edges thereof against said car when said door is closed, and means on said frame to force said section toward said other section.

In testimony whereof I hereunto afix my 

